National Star Sea Era...

Chapter 903 [Star Sea - Southern Pole]

In the 570th year of the Expedition Calendar, with the fall of the last homeworld fortress of the "Shadow Songstress" civilization, the war in the North Silent Sea Galaxy cluster was basically over.

At the same time, good news also came from the direction of the Black Abyss Star Core Galaxy Cluster. The joint fleet of the Divine Xia Dynasty and the Red Yu Dynasty wiped out the stubbornly resisting "Dark Star Devourer" civilization with thunderous force, which also marked the official end of the military conquest phase of these two galactic clusters.

The next few centuries were a period in which the five great empires and their allies digested, integrated, and developed these new territories.

A massive engineering and immigration fleet replaced the warships, traversing conquered galaxies. Standardized, large-scale, ultra-long-range stargates were rapidly established, connecting the new territories with the homeland of the ancient civilization.

Resource exploration spacecraft delved deep into the barren zones of the star system, the planetary belt, and even the interior of floating continents, creating detailed maps of resource distribution.

Tens of thousands of colony starships transported batches of elite immigrants from the five great empires to planets and floating lands that had been environmentally modified and were suitable for life.

……

Ancestral Domain, the human river system community that carries on the torch.

A postwar conference, jointly initiated by the five ancestral temples of the Fire Civilization, was held soon. After a unified resolution, the vast territory of the Beijihai River System Cluster (approximately 760 river systems) and the Heiyuan Star Core River System Cluster (approximately 850 river systems), totaling more than 1,600 river systems, was clearly demarcated.

As pillars of civilization, the five great empires each took three hundred river systems as their direct territories, occupying a total of 1,500 river systems. These river systems were often the richest in resources and the most strategically important.

The remaining hundred or so river systems became the fiefdoms of powerful forces, immortal clans, super conglomerates, and even a few strong exploration teams and guilds within the civilization, who had deep foundations and made great achievements in the expeditions.

For a time, the entire Torch Civilization was immersed in a frenzied atmosphere of exploration and harvest. Countless rare minerals, energy crystals, biological gene templates, interstellar artifacts, and high-level floating continent origins flooded into the civilization's homeland like a tide, greatly enriching the civilization's resource pool and strategic reserves.

All those with a long-term vision understand that the assimilation of these two new river system communities will bring immeasurable growth in scale and enhancement in cultural heritage to the civilization of the past.

In the next few thousand years, the entire civilization will inevitably usher in an unprecedented period of explosive growth in strength. More new Star Destroyer Captains, Galaxy Captains, and Hyperdimensional Captains, as well as mythical enslaved creatures under the command of various forces, will emerge like mushrooms after rain, accumulating more resources to prepare for the inevitable and brutal final battle at the "Beat the Heavens Ruins".

However, just as the entire civilization was focusing its attention on the development and construction of the new territory and basking in the joy of its growing strength, Song Chi's true form slowly opened his eyes in the All-Attribute Cultivation Chamber of the Heavenly Ruins Market.

His eyes were deep, as if reflecting an endless sea of ​​stars, and they did not show much concern for the new territory of civilization, but rather a hint of inquiry and solemnity.

"Sixteen hundred river systems... could certainly greatly enhance the foundation of civilization, but compared to that, the legendary 'South Pole' is what I'm looking forward to even more right now."

He muttered to himself, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of space, landing somewhere beyond the distant stars.

In his perception, the [Heavenly Fate Compass], which he obtained from the once-dominant Immortal Realm civilization and was of seven-colored quality, always pointed its pointer firmly to the south of the Star Sea, to that mysterious "Star Sea - South Pole".

He had always been extremely curious about this so-called "Star Sea - Southern Pole", but he had never been able to find the time to do so. Now, taking advantage of the last moments of tranquility before the collapse of the [Botian Ruins], he decided to give it a try.

He had a premonition that the secret hidden there might be related to the path to transcend the current mythological realm, to that so-called true transcendence.

With a thought, a super warship, the Sky Ruins Azure Sky, a super warship whose entire body flowed with dark red color and was hidden deep in the void, appeared in a completely unfamiliar void star field, having just completed another ultra-long-distance jump.

For nearly a thousand years, Song Chi has devoted most of his mind to the Tianxu Cangqiong, controlling it to sail south on this seemingly endless, lonely voyage.

He made thorough preparations for this exploration.

The warship's core warp drive component had recently been upgraded to tri-color quality thanks to the baptism of two newly produced Tier 10 [Golden Apples]. With the assistance of the lower-quality [Crimson Sky Warp Device] and [Space Jumper], the Skyfall Sky's single conventional warp distance reached an astonishing level.

In addition, the mirror image of the [Space Wormhole Generator] component, which was also upgraded to the three-color quality by the [Golden Apple], can create wormholes that can span terrifying distances of over a trillion light-years in a single operation. This allows the Sky Ruins Sky to travel at an indescribable speed.

It was precisely by relying on these three components, which can be described as divine artifacts for interstellar travel, that the Tianxu Cangqiong was able to traverse a long journey that ordinary civilizations could not even reach in hundreds of millions of years, at a speed far beyond the imagination of ordinary mythical creatures, and steadfastly advance southward.

At this moment, Song Chi, controlling his ethereal body, stood in the main control room of the Tianxu Cangqiong. Looking out the porthole at the almost absolute darkness, devoid of any starlight, and then at the slightly trembling pointer on the Tianming Sinan (Heavenly Fate Compass), where the terrestrial star map was still far from fully aligning with the "Southernmost Point" mark, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

The Shattered Star Sea was so vast that even with the support of three mythical space-traversing components, it would still take a long time for him to accumulate enough experience to find the so-called "Southern Pole".

Song Chi was not discouraged by this, as it was within his expectations. Moreover, there was still time; there was a buffer period of several thousand years before the Botian Ruins completely collapsed.

And so, he steadfastly continued to remotely control the Sky Ruins Sky, heading south, as time passed in the process.

In the blink of an eye, two thousand years have passed.

Three thousand years have passed since he officially took control of the Heavenly Ruins and Azure Sky and set sail. In these three thousand years, he has never slacked off.

One day, just when Song Chi thought this routine would continue, the [Heavenly Fate Compass Star Chart] to the side, which had remained largely unchanged, suddenly emitted a flashing light.

Looking to the side, Song Chi's eyes quickly flickered.

On this star map, the "Starry Sea - South Pole" marking had somehow quietly aligned perfectly with the component pointer.

"Starry Sea, Southern Pole... Are we finally arriving?"

Almost subconsciously, Song Chi murmured to himself.

As he began to concentrate intensely, he could sense that the rules of the universe around him were becoming unusually thin and strange, and the spacetime structure was exhibiting an indescribable fragility and... a sense of boundaries.

It was as if this was the end of the known material universe, and beyond that lay the realm of "nothingness," where even the rules had not been defined.

The Sky Ruins began to slowly decelerate. The Sky Ruins, having evolved from the Soul Devouring Altar into a seven-colored quality radar through the completion of the entire fourth stage of Soul Devouring, was already fully powered up, cautiously probing the ultimate dark area ahead where even light did not exist.

Song Chi's mind was also on high alert. He knew that this final journey might just be the beginning of the real challenge.

Suppressing the agitation in his heart, Song Chi quickly calmed down. Instead of rashly controlling the Tianxu Cangqiong to continue forward, after thinking for a moment, he took the initiative to recall the mirror warship left at the Immortal Realm Continent ruins and replace the main body of the Tianxu Cangqiong with it, continuing southward.

He knew nothing about this so-called "Southern Pole of the Star Sea," and since he was unsure if there were any dangers, it was naturally safer to send the mirror warship to scout ahead. The mirror warship, like a cautious explorer, slowly advanced through near-absolute nothingness.

The seven-colored light replicating the Eye of Truth scanned the surroundings with unprecedented intensity, but the information it returned was extremely limited and strange.

There is no matter, no energy, and even the concepts of time and space become blurred, as if all the basic laws and rules of the universe have failed here, returning to a certain initial state of "nothingness".

If it weren't for the fact that the pointer of the [Heavenly Mandate Compass] pointed unequivocally to this location and perfectly aligned with the markings on the Earthly Star Chart, Song Chi would almost have doubted whether he had stumbled into a pure "Starry Sea Void Forbidden Zone".

He piloted the mirror warship, maximizing the energy field and the boundary of rules, while deeply merging his mind with the [Eye of Truth], cautiously exploring forward.

This extreme "emptiness" lasted for an unknown period of time—perhaps a moment, perhaps endless years. In this place where rules no longer exist, time has lost its meaning of measurement.

Just as Song Chi began to feel a loneliness and oppression from the depths of his soul, the detection wave of the [Eye of Truth] finally detected a strange "ripple".

It was not a fluctuation of matter or energy, but more like... the echo of rules, the imprint of time.

"There's something here!" Song Chi's spirits lifted, and he immediately maneuvered the warship carefully toward the source of the ripples.

As the distance closed, the "ripples" gradually became clearer.

In the absolute darkness, some extremely dim, almost transparent fragment-like phantoms gradually emerged. These phantoms were enormous, with complex and mysterious structures. The outlines of palaces, columns, and squares could be vaguely discerned, but they were not physical entities. Instead, they were composed of some solidified and broken laws of time and primordial rules.

"This is... a ruin?"

Song Chi was shocked; he had never seen such a peculiar sight before.

These architectural phantoms seem to exist in another dimension, overlapping and intersecting with the current space, yet remaining unreachable.

As the mirrored warship continued deeper into the area, more and more fragmented phantoms appeared around it, gradually forming a vast and boundless landscape of ruins.

The ruins were silent, yet they exuded an indescribable sense of antiquity and vastness, as if they had been dormant here for countless eons.

An indescribable pressure permeated the surroundings. This pressure was not directed at living beings, but at the rules themselves, causing a slight lag in the various systems of the mirror warship.

The replica of the [Eye of Truth] is operating at full capacity, analyzing the essence of these fragments of rules.

Gradually, fragmented pieces of information were deciphered:
"...Time...Sequence...Baseboard..."

"...The eternal...land of slumber..."

"...High...Dimension..."

"……overtake……"

However, these fragments of information were too general, and no matter how Song Chi reasoned, he could not grasp the key points.

Until a certain moment, the mirror warship traversed the landscape, gradually approaching the deepest part of this endless ruin.

In the all-attribute cultivation room of the market, Song Chi, whose eyes were closed, suddenly raised an eyebrow. Through the image transmitted through the soul link, he saw the core scene of that eternal ruin. But the moment he captured this scene, a strange sense of familiarity suddenly welled up in his heart.

The sense of familiarity came suddenly, but he couldn't recall the key details for a moment. Even after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't remember where he had seen a similar scene before.

Just as he was struggling with this decision, Song Chi's eyes lit up.

"correct……"

After muttering something, he waved his hand, and the next second two special items appeared in his hand.

It was a broken bronze palace door, along with a key that gleamed with black light.

The black key was the [Key of the Temple of Time] that he obtained in a small segment of the river of time, and the sense of familiarity that surfaced in his mind came from the ruins deep within that river of time.

As for the bronze palace gate, it was obtained from a gray-robed alien myth during the Origin Star Operation; it is the [Shattered Gate of the Temple of Time].

With a "let's give it a try" attitude, he quickly signaled the ethereal figure on the other side of the mirror warship to activate the [Market Projection Order], handing over the bronze palace door and the key of inheritance to it.

Not long after, when the ethereal body returned to the mirror warship after leaving the market, the bronze palace door and the black key he held in his hands trembled violently as expected.

"As expected, this is the ruins of the Temple of Time..."

Song Chi took a deep breath. Despite his suspicions, he still found it hard to believe that this place was indeed the ruins of the legendary overlord, the Temple of Time.

That super power that once dominated countless eras and was said to have produced only a handful of transcendent beings in succession, ultimately could not escape the fate of its lineage being severed.

As he pondered this, Song Chi sensed something was amiss.

"Isn't it said that the main hall of the Temple of Time is located at the end of the River of Time? Why is it here in the 'Southern Pole of the Star Sea'?"

With a quick scan of the vast area surrounding the ruins, Song Chi was certain that there was no trace of time laws and rules in this "Extreme Region of Xinghai South". This meant that the legendary River of Time was not here, or rather, it did not flow through this place.

However, no matter how puzzled he was, it was clear that no one would answer his questions, so he simply stopped paying attention to them and continued to control the Tianxu Cangqiong mirror warship to move forward.

Regardless of why the Temple of Time appeared in the South Pole of the Star Sea, what's more important right now is whether the Key to the Temple of Time's Inheritance in his hand can still play its original role.

(End of this chapter)